Castle Hayne voters say "no" to incorporation

CASTLE HAYNE, NC (WWAY)-- One of the more interesting elections that happened in New Hanover County was in Castle Hayne. Residents went to the polls to decide whether they would become a town, and the answer was a bit one sided.

The final tally from Castle Hayne is 620 people against incorporation and 203 for it.

"I'm very excited that the people have spoken and I'm just glad that we've put this to an end," said Jim Bordeaux, a Castle Hayne Town Council candidate.

Tom Radewicz was candidate for Mayor of town that does not exist. He is worried that this outcome may eventually lead to the expansion of Wilmington.

"I think that consolidation will come," said Radewicz." It might not be for another 3 years or so but it is coming. I think that when it does come that day then people will look back on this day."

People on both sides of the argument stood outside the Castle Hayne Community Center all day trying to make last second impressions on voters. Despite the signs reading "Welcome to Wilmington" and "Say yes to Incorporation" scattered across the area, voters still said "no".

Some residents say they will avoid the extra taxes and government that comes with the title of town.

"I think Castle Hayne as a community has to pull together and work with our county commissioners and local elected officials for improvements in our area," said Bordeaux.

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but he's right, Castle Hayne residents will probably regret this. There is no Commissioner on the BOCC from Castle Hayne so their representation isn't strong. Consolidation or annexation will come. A lot of the residents were comforted by the Republican General Assembly's changes in annexation laws but just as that pendulum swung wildly in that direction, it'll swing back. The StarNews printed an email from a Wilmington Councilman assuring a CH resident that the city won't annex CH because they can't afford to install services such as water & sewer. The chairman of the BOCC, when he was campaigning for office, listed getting water & sewer to CH as one of his top priorities. So the day is coming. I understand not wanting another layer of government but the taxes were minimal in exchange for the opportunity for home rule.

the anti-incorporation group ran a campaign of scare tactics-encouraging a fear of the unknown cost of taxes,rezoning farm land and yes, laws against horses.i believe residents will be very sorry that incorporation did not pass when the county decides what to do with a rural area inside an urban county. my best guess is we will be given a landfill for someone else's garbage,or a pollution pumping plant of some sort- that will bring big tax money to the county,to spend anywhere but in castle hayne. there was a reason that new hanover county did not want castle hayne to incorporate!

I bought my home in 1978. I was told by the realtor that I could possibly be annexed into the city in 2 or 3 years, but I loved the home so much that I was willing to take a chance and hoped that it might be a longer period of time than he suggested. I figured anything past 3 years was extra savings from not having to pay double property taxes.

Thirty-three years later, it still hasn't been annexed. I have learned that governmental doesn't move quickly (sometimes not at all), and my home was the best investment of my life.

I really don't believe Castle Hayne residents have anything to worry about anytime soon. Even if the chairman of the BOCC said that getting water and sewer to Castle Hayne was one of his top priorities, the actual building and installing those lines will take quite a bit of time (my guess is at least a couple of generations). By that time, who knows?

Wilmington has no desire to incorporate Castle Hayne due to the lack of infrastructure and their obligation to make a considerable investment.This was a laughable scare campaign that showed NO real value to the citizens.People are not willing to pay for duplicative services on par with what they already receive now.The character of Castle Hayne has relatively gone unchanged over the last fifty years.Due to action by the N.C General Assembly, forced annexation is a thing of the past.A MAJORITY of the voters have spoken therefore respect the outcome.If you want to influence county policy concerning Castle Hayne,it would be my suggestion to run for county commissioner.The reason Wilmington tried to annex Monkey Junction was to expand their footprint over an area that was already heavily developed,commercialized and had adequate infrastructure in place.An easy land grab for those looking to expand the tax base.If Castle Hayne Inc were to have come to fruition,they would have been operating on a shoestring budget and financing official name recognition on very scarce public dollars.Many larger municipalities are struggling mightily to fiscally stay afloat in an economy they will in all probability be stagnate for years to come.

Current annexation laws make Castle Hayne extremely safe. For one, it needs to actually border the city of Wilmington in a signficant way to even be done forcibly. If you've seen the actual annexation study areas Kings Grant, Ogden, Springview, Masonboro, Silva Terra, and Dutch Square are the portions being looked at. Trends make it far more likely that high land value areas such as Figure 8 Island, Dolphin Bay, and Porters Neck would be annexed long before Castle Hayne is even considered.

Unless a land developer starts actively raising the property values along Castle Hayne Rd, I don't think Wilmington would even consider annexing it any of our lifetimes. The property value is amongst the lowest in the county and the infastructure simply isn't there to make it worthwhile.

Still running your mouth without any facts to back up your post. The people have spoken with a 3 to 1 margin, in an off year special election! Speaks volumes about scare tatics and half truths not working any more. Why don't you put that big old sign showing Wilmington's future city limits up in your yard, so you can show that you really believe what you say. Bs is bs is bs.

Castle hayne has been able to carry out its own business as a community for longer than I have been alive. The idea that we should inject political figures to negotiate on our behalf and to decide our own fates, is silly. The people of Castle Hayne have no need for representation on a local level, as we have handled it ourselves up to this point. The vote reflects that pretty clearly.